How To Make Homemade Sauerkraut

Think you can’t make your own sauerkraut at home? Think again. My easy step-by-step tutorial shows exactly how I make sauerkraut at home, and it’s ready in 7-14 days. With my detailed photos and simple directions, it’s easy to DIY one of my favorite probiotic-rich foods.

Making Homemade Sauerkraut Is Easier Than You Think

My method for making sauerkraut is super simple and doesn’t require any fancy kitchen tools. With just green cabbage, salt, a zip-top freezer bag, and a jar, I can have a small batch of kraut in 7-14 days.

I’ve made this sauerkraut in jars and crocks, with lids and without, with and without airlocks, and with special weights or just a plastic freezer bag filled with water. They’ve all turned out great.

If you’ve been thinking about trying fermentation at home, this sauerkraut recipe is foolproof. It works for beginners and experienced fermenters alike.

Bonus! Making homemade sauerkraut is also economical. For $5 or less, I can make a jar of sauerkraut that would easily cost $7-10 at the store or a farmers’ market.

The Fermentation Process

The science behind the fermentation process starts with the good bacteria, Lactobacillus, on the surface of the cabbage. These bacteria eat the natural sugars in the cabbage and produce tangy lactic acid.

The longer the cabbage is left in the jar, the more lactic acid is produced, and the more “sour” the flavor will become. Lacto-fermentation is how yogurt, miso, pickles, and kimchi get their yummy flavors. It’s also how I make my preserved lemons. 

The tangy-tart flavor is perfect for grilled burgers, hot dogs or brats, sandwiches, salads, and more.

That’s also the difference between homemade and most shelf-stable store-bought sauerkraut. Canned kraut is heat-processed, so it doesn’t have the live bacteria that homemade fermented sauerkraut does.

Fermentation and Gut Health

You may already know about the health benefits of eating fermented foods. If you love kimchi and sauerkraut as much as I do, check out my reasons to eat fermented foods every day.

What are the benefits of eating sauerkraut? Eating raw sauerkraut has the potential to boost gut health thanks to the beneficial bacteria (probiotics) that form during fermentation. Sauerkraut also helps activate certain digestive enzymes that help the digestive system break down food more efficiently.

Homemade sauerkraut has nutrients, too. Mason jar kraut contains fiber, iron, enzymes, vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, potassium, and lactic acid.

What You Need To Make Sauerkraut

What is sauerkraut made of? Sauerkraut only requires 2 ingredients: cabbage and salt. To turn a head of cabbage into kraut, I use just a handful of ingredients and common kitchen items:

• Fresh cabbage — Look for cabbage that is firm and heavy for its size, but not too large. The leaves should be crisp, slightly shiny, and blemish-free.
• Sea salt — I always use sea salt, not iodized salt, for sauerkraut. I use fine sea salt for this recipe. Pickling salt or Redmond Real Salt may also be used.
• 1-quart wide-mouth glass jar — This serves as the fermentation vessel instead of a stoneware crock, and it lets me see what’s happening throughout the process. Jars are easy to find at most grocery stores, hardware stores, and big-box stores like Target and Walmart.
• Large knife — A large, sharp knife such as a chef’s or cook’s knife is needed to remove the core of the cabbage and slice it thinly.
• Cutting board
• Large mixing bowl — Any kind will work; just make sure it’s large enough to hold all of the sliced cabbage.
• Small zip-top plastic freezer bag — I fill this bag with tap water to create an inexpensive weight that keeps the cabbage under the brine. A sandwich-size bag works best, but I make sure it’s a thicker freezer bag with a double seal or zipper so it’s less likely to leak.
• Lid — A screw-on plastic or metal 2-piece band and lid is all you need.
• Airlock, optional — An airlock is a special lid or lid attachment that allows gases created by fermentation to escape on their own. These Pickle Pipes are my favorite airlocks because their simple, one-piece design makes them easy to use. Without an airlock, I just release the gases manually, or ‘burp’ the jar.
• Weight, optional — The weight replaces the need for the zip-top bag. If you plan to keep fermenting, a set of glass or ceramic fermentation weights is worth it. I like these Pickle Pebbles from Mason Tops.

My Take On Fancy Gadgets For Sauerkraut

I don’t want anyone to feel held back by not having the “right tools.” The barrier to entry for fermented cabbage is low, and there’s always time to grow into fancy crocks, weights, and airlocks later.

So roll up your sleeves and start a first batch of sauerkraut without all the bells and whistles.

How Long To Ferment Sauerkraut

It takes 7-14 days for cabbage to ferment and become sauerkraut, depending on taste preference and storage conditions.

Smaller quantities of sauerkraut, like the amount I make in a quart jar, ferment faster than larger batches. Another reason this recipe is great for beginners: there’s no strict minimum or maximum fermentation time.

The temperature in my home speeds up or slows down fermentation. Warmer rooms ferment sauerkraut faster, while cooler rooms take a little longer. I start checking mine at day 4, especially when the house is warm.

Things To Watch Out For

One of the best parts about making sauerkraut is that it is safe to eat at every stage. I make sure my jar isn’t too full so it doesn’t bubble over and make a mess. If I ever spot fuzzy mold that’s pink, black, blue, or green, I toss the batch. A thin white film on top (kahm yeast) isn’t harmful, so I just skim it off.

How To Make Sauerkraut

I’ve broken the process into 6 steps, with photos along the way.

1. Prep The Cabbage

1. Rinse the cabbage in cool water. Remove the coarse outer leaves and discard. Remove and rinse a few unblemished leaves and set them aside for later. Pat the cabbage dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel.
2. Using a large knife, slice the cabbage in half. Cut the halves in half again to create quarters. Carefully cut away the core, then thinly slice the cabbage.
3. Transfer the sliced cabbage to a large bowl.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and, with your hands, massage it into the cabbage. Taste the cabbage when it starts to look wet and shiny. The salt should be noticeable without being overwhelming (a little salty, but still tasty). Add more salt, a little at a time, as needed to get the ‘salty, but not too salty’ taste.
5. Continue to massage until the cabbage becomes wet and limp. It can take 3-5 minutes for the salty liquid (aka brine) to pool in the bottom of the bowl. When I squeeze the cabbage with both hands, the brine should run freely into the bowl.
6. If I’ve put in a good effort and don’t have much brine, I cover the bowl and let it sit for 45 minutes. Massage again until the liquid runs freely when you squeeze a handful of cabbage.

2. Pack The Jar

1. Transfer the cabbage into a clean 1-quart mason jar, a few handfuls at a time. Use your hands to press the cabbage into the bottom of the jar, working out any air pockets, before you add more cabbage.
2. Repeat the adding and pressing until all the cabbage has been packed tightly into the jar, leaving 2-3 inches of headspace at the top.
3. If there’s too much cabbage, I place some in another clean jar (extra kraut!). Once it’s all pressed in, there should be a little brine on top of the cabbage.
4. Top the packed cabbage with 1 or 2 reserved leaves, gently tucking them down along the sides to keep little bits of cabbage under the brine. If bits of cabbage are floating in the brine after I place the leaves on top, I pick out as many as I can. Anything not covered in brine (i.e., floating and exposed to air) increases the chance of mold.

3. Weigh It Down

1. Place the zip-top freezer bag into the jar, using your fingers to spread it out to cover as much of the cabbage leaf as possible. Fill with cool water and seal, pressing out as much of the air as possible.
2. Tuck the top of the bag into the jar and loosely screw the lid onto the jar so the gases created during fermentation can escape. A clean kitchen towel works as a cover, too. If using a lid with an airlock, follow the directions for your particular lid.

4. Ready, Set, Ferment!

1. Place the jar in an area out of direct sunlight and cool to room temperature (55-75℉) to ferment for 7-14 days. Dark is best, but I keep it somewhere I won’t forget about it. When mine sits on the kitchen counter, I lay a towel over the jar.
2. Check the ferment daily to be sure everything is under the sauerkraut brine. Remember: “If it’s under the brine, everything’s fine!”

5. Take A Look

1. After about two days, tiny bubbles start forming between the cabbage layers. A few bubbles are fine, but if I see air pockets or the brine isn’t fully covering the cabbage, I carefully remove the lid and zip-top bag and, with clean hands, gently press down to release the air and return everything below the brine.
2. Replace the bag and lid and let it do its thing. If my sauerkraut is especially active or the room is warm, I peek at the jar once or twice a day to see whether it needs to be pressed down. This active fermentation stage usually lasts 2-5 days (longer in colder temperatures).

6. Taste Test

1. I start taste-testing my kraut on day 4, especially if the room is warm. Carefully remove the bag with clean hands and use clean fingers or a utensil to gently push the cabbage leaf aside and pull a small taste.
2. It’s ready when:
   • It has a pleasing pickle-y flavor without the strong acidity of vinegar. It should not taste overly salty, just pleasantly salty. Like pickles but without the garlic and dill.
   • The cabbage has softened a bit but retains some crunch.
   • The cabbage is more yellow than green and slightly translucent, like it’s been cooked. This usually takes 7-14 days, depending on the room’s temperature.
   • If the sauerkraut is not ready, rinse the bag under cool running water and carefully place it back in the jar. Make sure all of the cabbage is below the brine. Wait another day or two, then taste again to see what you think.

When my sauerkraut tastes the way I like it, I store it in the refrigerator. It’s done when the flavor is tart, tangy, and mildly salty. For a more sour kraut, I let it ferment a little longer and check on it daily, since it can quickly go from just right to overly fermented or even moldy.

For bigger batches, I use this same process with a food processor and a few more pounds of cabbage.

Sauerkraut Flavor Variations

Once this simple sauerkraut recipe feels familiar, I like to play with add-ins such as beets or red cabbage. For a traditional German-style sauerkraut, I add juniper berries, caraway seeds, and mustard seeds. Dill is also a delicious addition. Love fermenting as much as I do? Try my other recipes for fermented veggies and lemons below.

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